The eclipse of the Moon lasted for exactly three hours and twenty-eight minutes over Monday night and the wee hours of Tuesday morning for the Winter Solstice. The totality phase of the lunar eclipse lasted for 72 minutes and cast a ghostly red/brown glow over the moon. The glow is said to have been caused by a large volume of volcanic ash and dust in the atmosphere from the many recent volcanic eruptions around the Earth. Unlike solar eclipses, a lunar eclipse is safe to view with the naked eye and lasts for several hours.

As we understand, many star-gazers on the West Coast missed out on the spectacle due to the rain or general overcast weather conditions. Not to worry — according to NASA there will be two lunar eclipse events in June and December of 2011, so mark those dates in your new calendars now.